What can you tell me about the British sitcom “Last of the Summer Wine”?

—Donna Morris, Sapulpa, Okla.

The 1973-2010 BBC series, a gentle comedy about people in the autumn of their years, is the world’s longest-running sitcom. (It aired on PBS in America.) The leading characters include Cyril Blamire (Michael Bates), Norman ‘Cleggy’ Clegg (Peter Sallis) and Compo Simmonite (Bill Owen). There were numerous cast departures and additions over the years, notably when Owen died and his real-life son, Tom Owen, joined the show in 2000 to portray Compo’s long-lost son, also named Tom.